In Allentown, third Route 22 business hit by bicycling bandit

The Shell gas station on 19th Street, near Route 22, in Allentown was robbed… (Frank Warner, The Morning…)

October 19, 2012|By Frank Warner, Of The Morning Call

Two nights after a bicycler held up two other Route 22 businesses, a gunman pedaled up to an Allentown gas station near the highway and biked off with stolen cash, police said.

The robber entered the 1323 N. 19th St. Shell station at 9:10 p.m., pulled a black pistol from his pants pocket, and grabbed nearly $1,500 from the cash register, according to the gas station owner.

"He hands me cash for cigarettes. I turn to get him change, and when I turn back he has a gun out," said the station cashier, who asked not to be identified.

The cashier said he put his hands up and turned his head away as the robber collected the cash and ran. A surveillance camera caught the robber bicycling away down an alley off Roth Street.

Allentown police Capt. Daryl Hendricks said city detectives see a similarity in the Shell station robbery and the earlier Lehigh Valley heists by a bicycler.

"We're looking into the possibility that this may be related," he said.

At 8:20 p.m. Tuesday, a bicycler tried to rob Jordan Park Beverage at 1208 MacArthur Road, just south of Route 22 in Whitehall Township. The robber was described as a skinny man, about 5-foot-8, in his mid-20s, wearing a gray, hooded sweatshirt and carrying a black handgun. He got nothing here.

About 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, a bicycling gunman robbed the U.S. Petroleum gas station at 3562 Bath Pike, Route 512, Hanover Township, just north of Route 22. He made off with $300 to $400 from the cash register, according to radio reports.

Whitehall and Colonial Regional police are investigating those stickups.

The Allentown robber was described as 5-foot-6 to 5-foot-8. He wore a gray sweatshirt and a black, red and white knit cap with the word "Blackhawks" on it.

Hendricks said he had a report that a bicyclist committed yet another robbery – in the Bethlehem area – on Thursday night, not long before the Allentown Shell station heist. Bethlehem Detective Lt. Mark DiLuzio said he had not heard of such a robbery, but it could have happened in a neighboring municipality.

Jagdeep Sohal, owner of the Allentown gas station, said he was puzzled that the robber struck relatively early Thursday evening.

"It's surprising that it happened so early, about 9:10, and he took less than a minute to grab all the money from the cash register," he said. "These robberies usually happen between 2 and 4 in the morning. That's a very dangerous time."

Sohal said he also owns gas stations in New Jersey, in areas where the robbery risk is much higher. His 19th Street, Allentown, Shell station is in a peaceful neighborhood, he said.

Area police have been comparing notes since Tuesday to try to identify the bicycling robber or robbers, and they are not certain the bicycle is the principal means of transportation in these crimes.

Colonial Regional Sgt. Mike Enstrom said it's possible the robber uses the bicycle only in the last stage of each robbery, and that he uses a motor vehicle to move the bicycle from scene to scene.